1) The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (45:21) writes that in a case where three people are eating a meal together and two of them are stringent not to eat bread that was cooked by a non-Jew while the third member of the group is lenient and is eating from such bread, he is required to lead the invitation to recite Birchas HaMazon. Since he can eat from the bread of the other two but they are unable to eat from his bread, he must serve as the leader of the group. (Parsha Potpourri)
2) The Madanay Asher brings a number of answers to answer up the minhag of the chassidim:
- i) The Shulchan Aruch (183:11) writes: “If one is walking on the way and eating, he doesn’t need to sit down to bentch, as he won’t be able to concentre”. The Mishnah Berurah (s.k. 36) explains: It’s difficult for such a person to sit down and bentch as he is worried about delaying his journey. We see that if sitting down ruins one’s concentration it’s better for him to bentch whilst standing. Perhaps at a tish it’s easier to concentrate when standing on one spot then it is to sit down, therefore, the widespread minhag is to stand. (HaGaon Shlomah Dovid Klein, Otzar Teshuvos, siman 134)
- ii) The reason it’s not ideal to bentch whilst standing is because it’s difficult to concentrate as one is in a very temporary state. If, however, one is fixed and standing on the spot, perhaps it’s easier to concentrate and there is room for leniency. (HaGaon Shlomah Dovid Klein, Otzar Teshuvos, siman 134)
- iii) R’ Yitzchok Zilberstein suggests, that we find in Yoma (25a): “אין ישיבה בעזרה אלא למלכות בית דוד” — There is no sitting in the azorah [Temple courtyard] except for kings of Dovid.” R’ Zilberstein suggests, that just like one shouldn’t sit in the azorah out of respect for the Shechinah, one shouldn’t sit in front of the rebbe. In his words: “כשם שאין ישיבה בעזרה כך אין ישיבה בפני רבו וכשעומדים בטיש כדי לקבל מיראת שמים ע"י שמתבוננים בצדיק ולומדים מהנהגותיו הקדושות, א"צ לשבת” — Just like there is no sitting in the azorah, similarly one shouldn’t sit in front of the rebbe. When one is standing at tish to gain Yiras Shomayim by looking and absorbing from the ways of a holy tzaddik, there is no need to sit.”
3) The Ibn Ezra offers two reasons: The first reason he brings is: “כי הוציאו מלבושים רבים ממצרים — Klal Yisroel took from the Egyptians lots of garments, therefore, they had plenty of clothes and they never wore out”. However, the Ba’al HaTurim (Shemos 3:22) writes that Klal Yisroel only took two pairs of clothes from the Egyptians. He writes: “כל כלי הכסף והזהב לקהו אבל שמלות לא לקהו אלא כל אהד ב' שמלות אהד לצרור הבצק דכתיב משארתם צרורת בשמלתם ואהד למלבוש והיא הספיקה להם כל ימי היותם במדבר דכתיב שמלתך לא בלתה מעליך — They took lots of gold and silver utensils, however, when it came to taking garments, they only took two. One to wrap the dough in, like it says, ‘their dough wrapped in their garments’, and one for wearing. This garment lasted the entire time they were in the Midbar, like it says, ‘your garments never wore out’.” The Sefer Me’or Ho’Afalah (this week’s parsha, pg. 492) quotes from Midrashim, that in the Midbar the clothes that Bnei Yisroel wore would change into all types of different garments. According to this, it’s true they only took one garment (for wearing) like the Ba’al HaTurim, however, they still had lots of different garments like the Ibn Ezra, as the one pair they had constantly changed. Based on the above we can understand something that has always bothered me. If Klal Yisroel had the same clothes on for 40 years, surely it would come out that many of them were still wearing baby grows. Anyone who was a baby at the beginning of the 40 years would seemingly still be wearing a baby grow? According to the above, however, we can say that it changed and although it was originally a baby grow, now it was some other type of garment. The Ibn Ezra then offers a second reason: Generally speaking clothes wear out due to sweat. However, when Klal Yisroel were in the Midbar they never sweated, they ate the man, and the nature of the man was that it never made one sweat. Since they never sweated, their clothes never wore out. The Ramban is very unhappy with this explanation, amongst his questions he asks: “If one would cover a beam of wood which doesn’t sweat for 40 years, would the garment not wear out?” Therefore, he learns that it was simply a special miracle. The Ya’avatz defends the Ibn Ezra and says, if a garment stays in one place for 40 years then it wears out as dust collects on the garment and moths and various other things eat up and wear out the garment, if, however, it gets moved around then it lasts longer. The Ya’avatz goes on to say that he and his father the Chacham Tzvi had one garment which together they wore for 50 years. The Chasam Sofer (Yoreh Deah, 2:283) has an interesting Teshuvah in which he mentions the aforementioned Ramban. The Chasam Sofer discusses a house which had over 40 mezuzos in. The owner wanted to know if he is obligated to check all the mezuzos and open them up to ensure they were still kosher, or could he rely on checking them from the outside. The Chasam Sofer answered: That they must all be opened and checked every so often to ensure that they haven’t gone mouldy inside. He then brings the Ramban which says, “If one would cover a beam of wood which doesn’t sweat for 40 years, would the garment not wear out?”, and says certainly by a mezuzah where it is open to heat and rain we have to be worried that it may get mouldy inside and it needs to be checked.
4) The Shevus Yaakov (1:2) writes that if the parshiyos in a person’s tefillin shel rosh were written in accordance with Rashi’s opinion while those in his tefillin shel yad conform to Rabbeinu Tam’s position, he should recite both berachos on his tefillin shel rosh and put it on before his tefillin shel yad.
5) The Gemara (Beitzah 16a) says that while a person’s income is preset on Rosh Hashanah for the coming year, what is spent for Rosh Chodesh, Shabbos, Yom Tov and Talmud Torah are not included in the total. The Moshav Zekeinim al HaTorah notes that the word מרשית — “from the first crop” (Devorim 11:12) is curiously spelled without an alef. This indicates two things:
- That the remaining letters can be scrambled to form the word Tishrei, which is the beginning of the year (i.e. Rosh Hashanah).
- That these letters are the first letters of the words, Rosh Chodesh, Shabbos, Yom Tov and Talmud Torah; precisely the items that are enumerated in the Gemara as exceptions to the preset income total.
6) It is customary not to eat grapes on Rosh Hashanah. The Mishnah Berurah quotes the Vilan Gaon who says that one should not eat grapes on Rosh Hashanah for mystical reasons. The Chazon Ish permits it and says that the Gaon forbade it because there were only sour grapes available in Vilna at that time of year (Mishnah Berurah 600:4).
7) It depends; usually the berachah of mezonos comes first. If, however, it is at a kiddush, then obviously, wine comes first (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim Rema 211:4).
8) I deliberately withheld the answer, as I want to see what you can come up with.